Pitt’s United Way Campaign Set to Start on Oct. 5

“I don’t have a lot, but I have more than many, so $2 a pay is how I give.”

Just $2 a paycheck can make a difference in the lives of people helped by United Way agencies. That’s the message that the University of Pittsburgh’s 2011 United Way campaign hopes to convey to Pitt faculty and staff on the Pittsburgh campus.

The 2011 campaign will be officially launched Oct. 5 with a breakfast for campaign coordinators from across the campus at the University Club and will run through Nov. 4. It marks the 15th year that Pitt has participated in the campaign, which is the University’s most comprehensive fundraising effort. Campaign cochairs are

G. Reynolds (“Renny”) Clark, vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff for Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, and Margaret C. McDonald, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the schools of the health sciences. They oversee a steering committee comprising 15 other participants who represent a wide range of departments in the University.

“Every day there are thousands of people who live within sight of the Cathedral of Learning who struggle with life. As a responsible institution and community partner, Pitt has always found ways to reach out to these individuals. The United Way campaign is one way of helping those in need,” Clark said.

Faculty and staff can contribute to the campaign in three ways. Many individual departments within the University sponsor fundraising activities throughout the campaign, including raffles, flea markets, recycling programs for such electronics as cell phones, and snack carts. Donors also may contribute online by visiting www.unitedway.pitt.edu. And finally, faculty and staff may opt to have their contribution automatically deducted from their Pitt paychecks.

Anne Franks, executive director of administrative services in Pitt’s Office of Institutional Advancement and Pitt’s United Way campaign manager, is marking her seventh year of volunteering for the campaign. She said that this year’s theme is a change from prior Pitt campaigns.

“Usually we do the campaign based on the recipients of United Way funding, such as, ‘Help a senior citizen remain healthy,’ or ‘Help a child get the educational support he needs.’ But this year, we flipped the focus to the donor. I hope it will draw more people in. The message we want people to hear is, ‘Two dollars a month. That’s one cup of coffee—and we can do that.’”

Pitt’s 2010 United Way campaign was the most successful in the University’s history, raising $610,609. The total surpassed the annual fundraising effort’s goal by more than $10,000 and marked a 12 percent increase from the 2009 campaign. It broke the University’s previous record, $607,221, which was set in 2001.